LITTLE ROCK — Shortly before being sentenced Friday to 35 years in prison, Jody Cook admitted he never leaped from the Two Rivers Bridge into the Red River last summer.
"You know and I know you had no intention of doing that. The Red River was at flood stage that day," said Miller County Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson. "Did you ever really jump off the bridge that day?"
Cook, 32, reluctantly answered Johnson's questions as he stood before him, shackled and cuffed in inmate orange with a cross around his neck. The short sleeves of his shirt didn't cover the tattoo on his right forearm bearing the words "the reaper."
"No sir, I didn't jump," Cook said. "I was up the road back toward Doddridge."
Cook appeared hesitant when Johnson asked him about the scheme he and others devised to dupe law enforcement officers into believing Cook perished after jumping into the rising Red River near dusk on June 16. At the time of his disappearance, Cook was facing charges of rape and theft of property.
Standing on each side of Cook were his defense attorney, John Stroud III of Texarkana, andDeputy Prosecutor Carlton Jones. Cook pleaded guilty to rape and two counts of failure to appear in court. He entered a plea of no contest to theft of property.
Johnson sentenced Cook to serve 15 years for raping a 13-year-old girl in 2004. When he has finished serving his time for the rape, he will begin serving the two 10-year sentences Johnson assessed him for failing to appear in court after his disappearance. Once the time on those convictions has been served consecutively, Cook will begin serving another 10-year sentence Johnson levied against him for theft of property.
"There will be restitution in these failure-to-appear cases because of the ruse that was created," Jones said.
Jones told the court that he plans to make Cook, Cook's wife and the others involved pay for the cost of the five-day search and rescue effort mounted by emergency personnel in Arkansas and Louisiana. Cook's wife, Tyra, and his best friend, James Hoss, claimed to have seen Jody Cook leap from the bridge. Jody Cook told Johnson it was Hoss who threw a pair of Cook's shorts into the river, weighted with a rock. The investigation into who else assisted Jody Cook and knewof his whereabouts is still ongoing, and other arrest warrants may be issued, said Miller County officials.
Members of law enforcement and the judiciary suspected Cook vanished because of his pending felony charges and never quit searching for him. Cook managed to evade prosecution for three months before authorities in Polk County arrested him at a house in Mena, Ark., where he was found Oct. 16 living with his wife and their two toddlers.
Tyra Cook, 22, was arrested on a hindering-apprehension charge the same day. She remains in Miller County custody, unable to post the $100,000 bail set for her.
Hoss, 30, was arrested and charged with hindering apprehension shortly after the Cooks werearrested. Hoss quickly posted the $100,000 bond set for him.
Before being led by deputies from court, Jody Cook listened to some strong words from Johnson.
"The reason the court is accepting the prosecutor's recommendation is because of the trauma the victim has already undergone. The prosecution wants to avoid putting her through the trauma of a trial," Johnson said of the rape victim. "Even if I gave you 400 years, the harm caused by what you've done to her can never be undone."
Arkansas, Pages 22 on 11/04/2007